History

History of ODCC

The Old Dominion Corvette Club (ODCC) is a 501(c)(7) social club which was first organized by Collin MacDonald, Bill Kolster and Shep Moore in 2005. ODCC held its first regular meeting on September 17, 2005 in a break room at our sponsoring dealer, Sterling Chevrolet. The club was formed to provide an organization convenient to people living west of Tysons Corner and foster a group that was interested in social events, as opposed to a club focused on structured track events. The initial bylaws were approved and adopted in March of 2006, making the club official with Collin McDonald as president and Bill Kolster as vice-president. Timing would have it that ODCC was incorporated on June 13, 2006 - three days prior the first ODCC car show, “Corvettes at Sterling” held on June 16, 2006. Following the first car show, the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter (LAWS) was selected by ODCC to be its chosen charity and receive the proceeds from ODCC car shows. By the end of 2006, ODCC completed extensive development of a custom website with an online membership application process.

In 2007, Mick Lemish stepped into the President role and immediately implemented a membership drive that increased the ODCC roster to 54 members (families). Arnold Worldwide Communications became the ODCC’s official Marketing Sponsor. The IRS issued a determination letter granting ODCC tax-exempt status on July 16, 2007. The second “Corvettes at Sterling” car show event hosted in the summer of 2007 included three cars in the Sterling Chevrolet showroom, a “Heritage Row” in front of the showroom and raised over $3,000 in profits that were donated to ODCC’s chosen charity, LAWS. In 2007, ODCC began the tradition of members visiting the Winery at LaGrange in Haymarket, VA in the spring. In 2008 we expanded the event to include members from other Corvette clubs, which continues annually.

At the beginning of 2008, ODCC began to discuss plans for a larger car show, having outgrown the parking lot space available at Sterling Chevrolet. After accepting an offer from the host and sponsor of another local show, ODCC hosted the 19th Annual All Corvette Cruise-In (Manassas, VA) in August of 2008. Also in 2008 a small group of ODCC members made its first of many club road trips to the National Corvette Museum. By 2009, plans were underway for a new website feature that would allow members to upload images of their own cars. Monthly meetings often included a Corvette quiz question with the first person to correctly answer receiving a gift certificate for a free Mobil 1 oil change at Sterling Chevrolet. The club held its first ever Shop Day event in 2009, at a local facility completely open to work of any kind; coffee and donuts were provided, but each ODCC member had to supply his or her own tools and sign a waiver. In 2009, the Sullivan’s hosted the entire club at their farm in Summerduck (Fauquier County, VA) for a picnic, games, bon-fire and more; 50 people were at the “Down on the Farm” event and many drove their Corvettes. By the end of 2009, $775 of the $2600 necessary to purchase a club brick had been donated by ODCC members to the National Corvette Museum (NCM). One of the last events in 2009 was the inaugural Chili Cook-Off hosted at one of an ODCC member’s home.

In 2010, Bill Kolster took the helm as President, starting by announcing the brick fund had reached 41% and that club nametags were being ordered for members. In 2009, the Winery at LaGrange event had become so popular that 198 cars and 298 people registered and approximately 140 cars showed up. The winery had their best day for record sales since opening, but asked ODCC to limit participants to 90 cars in future years. In 2010, Odds & Ends Detailing provided a detail clinic for ODCC members and this has become an annual event. In 2010, the Manassas Cruise-In show time was moved from 2-6pm, instead of 4-8 pm, and the turnout was approximately 200 Corvettes. The year 2010 ended with the brick fund paid in full and another successful Chili Cook-Off event. There were over 175 cars at the All Corvette Cruise-In during 2011 and 212 cars in 2012. Ted Britt Automotive Group purchased Sterling Chevrolet in 2012 and agreed to continue to sponsor ODCC.

In 2013, Rick Huxta became President and a new vendor for member apparel was introduced. The state of Pennsylvania implemented new tax certificate laws in 2013 that required space holders at Corvettes at Carlisle to pay sales tax on any swap meet parts sold and ODCC cancelled the reserved spaces it had rented annually since 2006.

In 2014, the year of the NCM sinkhole, Bill Kolster returned to the role of President and hosted another club trip to the Museum in Bowling Green. Zip Products agreed to sponsor the Manassas Cruise-In for the seventh and final time in 2014. In 2015, member meetings were moved from Wednesday evenings to Saturday mornings in an attempt to increase attendance. The move to Saturday morning meetings at Mimi’s Café in Sterling Virginia has been a success; ODCC members who frequent Katie’s or other Car’s and Coffee events have time to attend these shows and still join ODCC at Mimi’s. In 2015, a member hosted the entire club at their home in Potomac Falls for a fundraiser / pig roast with all proceeds going to LAWS. ODCC also expanded its social media presence in 2015 by adding a private Facebook Group alongside of the existing Facebook Page.

In 2016, ODCC decided to divide donations from the All Corvette Cruise In equally between three charities, the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter (LAWS), Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and the National Corvette Museum (NCM). In 2017, regularly scheduled bi-monthly board meetings were introduced and the club made its first group trip to Bloomington Gold; the theme was the 50th Anniversary of the 1967 Corvette. Working with the USO, the club also hosted a dinner for soldiers and their families at Ft. Belvior. A number of club members showed off their Corvettes and served meals. It was very well received, and a very rewarding experience. Kudos to Gary Kyle for organizing and supporting the event. Eleven years after placing the first order, ODCC re-ordered oval logo club lapel pins for new members and as giveaways. ODCC members also traveled as a group in 2017 to the Flight 93 Memorial, it was well attended and as emotional as expected. Twenty-four members ended the year’s events by attending the Chili Cook-Off at the Kolster residence in December 2017.

The 29th Annual All Corvette Cruise-In was hosted in Manassas by ODCC, with an expanded silent auction and door prizes thanks to the new Cruise In chairperson, Yas Kinashi. The club raised $2000 and donated to our three charities. Club members made a second trip to Bloomington Gold in June. To close out 2018, Gary Kyle hosted the Chili Cook-off at his home in the Belmont County Club area of Ashburn. The event was one of the best attended Chili Cook-Off events ODCC has hosted with 30 members attending. The board also formed a committee of members to update the club’s bylaws, a project which is nearing completion.

In 2019, Bob Meyer became President and the club officers and directors began the task of updating and redesigning the ODCC website. The 2019 Annual Dinner was moved to a new venue in Haymarket (VA), after many years at various restaurants in Leesburg followed by five consecutive years in the historic manor house at Belmont County Club in Ashburn.

The organized events ODCC has participated in annually over the years have been well known events like the Captain Billy’s Crab Cruise, the Leesburg July 4th Parade, Summer Thunder, the Winchester Apple Blossom Parade, Corvettes at Carlise, Carz Cruisin to Cure Cancer, the Corvette Club of Richmond Roundup in Richmond, the Zip Products show in Mechanicsville VA, the Fredericksburg Corvette Cruz-in hosted by Battlefield Corvette Club, Corvettes on the Bay in Annapolis and Free State Corvette Club’s annual Corvettes at the Beach each October, in Ocean City, MD. More than once ODCC has had enough Corvettes registered in Ocean City to achieve a little celebrity as one of the top 15 of all clubs attending the event.

ODCC has also participated as a group in the Redskins Rides Car Show at Redskins Park in Ashburn, NVCC’s Corvettes Care Car Show at Page Chevrolet in Alexandria, NVCC’s Summer Picnic, NVCC’s Ducard Winery Cruise-In, NCRS Corvette Day at Sully Plantation, NRA Car Show in Fairfax, the Truck and Toss charity fundraiser for Grace Christian Academy, Horton Winery Pig Roast and Cars for the Cure Drive to End Diabetes at the Great Falls Village (a show started by a former ODCC member.)

At least five ODCC members have attended the Ron Fellows Driving Program. Seven members have had entries in NCRS regional meets in Maryland, Florida, Indiana, and California; four member families have attended NCRS National Conventions in Texas, California, Massachusetts and North Carolina. Two member families traveled to California for 50th Anniversary of the Corvette Celebrations that included the Solid Axle National Convention, the Monterey Historic Races and the Pebble Beach Concourse. Two member families traveled to Watkins Glen Opening Day and Corvette Racers Reunion, plus a Finger Lakes wine trail event in upstate New York. Several members have attended the Baltimore Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 as groups.

Since the third Anniversary of Cana Winery, the vineyard has invited ODCC to display Corvettes at the Winery and enjoy their festivities and ODCC members also visited Gray Ghost Vineyards for their Barrel Tasting after one of ODCC’s monthly meetings.

In addition to many of the events listed above ODCC plans events and trips for their members that have included several trips to Dot’s Back Inn (featured on Guy Fierri’s Dinners Drive-In’s and Dives) a fun run to Richmond on backroads, several group trips to the National Corvette Museum with stops to visit Maker’s Mark and other local venues, an Ice Cream Cruise on the Maryland Ice Cream Trail, outings to indoor and outdoor Go Kart tracks, Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico Marine Corps Base, a Purcellville Cannons Baseball game at Fireman's Field, at least three trips to the Drive In movies in Stephens City, Fort Belvoir USO, Cooter’s Place, trips to Bloomington Gold with stops to visit the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house and detail clinics with Odd & Ends Detailing which is one of the more popular recurring events ODCC offers its members.

ODCC’s annual events hosted by the club include the All Corvette Cruise-In on the second Saturday of every August, an informal Winery at LaGrange Cruise-In each spring and an annual member dinner at the beginning of each year for all current dues paying members.